Monday, December 07, 2009

Mirchi Curry -- 'ants on fire

Lovely Long Hot Peppers

There now Winter is here. We had our first Snow this Saturday. I am not too fond of winter. The thing I hate about winter is bundling up the kids in layers to even go to the grocery store. A simple task takes hours in just preparation. Coats waiting to be zipped, leggings to be worn, the cap messing the hair, the car seat now gets uncomfortable, the two young things shout out protests, the thought itself drives me nuts.

I like winter as long as I am allowed to stay inside. Inside the home it is warm and cozy and you truly start appreciating what "warm and cozy" means. Such was this Saturday, snowing in white fluffs outside while we sat in the warm glow of the fireplace, eating hot hotMirchi Curry.

This curry is inspired by Nupur's alu dum which again was inspired by Trupti's alu dum recipe. Instead of potatoes I decided to use long hot peppers in the creamy curry. Some heat to warm up the palate.

Ok truth be told I wanted to make a Mirchi ka salan like this or this. But then except for the long hot peppers I had no other ingredients. But I still desperately wanted to have Mirchi in a Curry and so in a fit of inspiration used Nupur's curry as a base for the beautiful hot peppers.

The Mirchi Curry or Long Hot Peppers in a creamy gravy was truly delicious and enjoyed by all barring the kids. The dish does have a fair amount of heat (though long hots are not too hot) and so be careful while cooking and eating. Though I have used long hot peppers for this dish you can use other type of hot peppers. For other kinds you may need to de-seed to reduce the heat

Cut 8-10 long hot peppers in 4ths each(i.e. each cut in 4 ). Sprinkle salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and roast in one single layer at 375 for 30-40 mins.Note: These are my toaster oven settings and time may vary in a regular one. Take care not to burn but just brown the peppers. More on roasting long hot peppers.

Soak 1/4 cup of cashew or slivered blanched almonds in water. Yes, what can I say, I have too many almonds in my pantry :-)

Add about 1 cup of 2% Milk. Add water if required for the gravy. Let the gravy simmer to a boil

Add the roasted long hot peppers and cook until the gravy thickens to a creamy consistency. Add a little sugar to taste, a little garam masala and very little chopped corriander.

Serve with Roti or Rice. It is fiery hot but in a pleasant way.

Trivia: There is debate whether or not men and women sense capsaicinoids(the substance that gives chilli peppers their intensity) similarly. Research carried out by the University of Reading shows that the effect of Capsicum chinense is elevated in the conjunction with testosterone. Thus men are more affected than women.Now you know why a pepper spray is effective

Definetly we should love this type of heat in winter days!After a decade, Northern CA got some snow today - I was happy to see those white mountains after 5 years! I remember bundling my son to take him out -blaming the weather and want to get out of East coast...

Nice Mirchi curry! We had the first snow of the season here today too. I totally agree with you when you said that winter is good only when you to stay inside and really appreciate what 'warm and cozy' means! I am not a big fan of winter too.

Dear sandeepaVery nice recipe!! Try Korbo...but I don't have any almonds, quite expensive here :-).Regarding chili eating, one must induct a child to chili eating when they are 1 yr old. I did it for both my daughters and they can eat any amount of chili now. Giving chili to a kid is painful for the parents but not for the child. believe me. They will have running nose and cry but want more too. We parents taught them that chili is bad..dont eat etc..and they follow that

In my engineering college hostel, I used to feel sad to see some friends could not eat food even if it had very little chili.People who go to south India, face this problem as no eating joint will give a reasonably low chili dish.So catch them young :-)

I have been eyeing Indira's mirchi ka salan since a year but never had the courage to make it. Yours sounds good. A lot of taming has happened with the peppers I believe by deseeding, roasting etc. But I crave some with soft rotis right away as Chennai too is chilled lately :)

I wouldlove to have thos hot chillie curry, but i think if i make them my daughter and hubby will run a mile.They do love spicy food, but i think this on would be going a bit far for them.Droll here from my side ;-)

I have tasted this curry at my friend's place long back, I have never regretted it :) your curry looks hot and yum, with some plain white rice and papads will make a great meal for this cold climate :)

my kids love food and they don't mind eating hot dishes at all!! Even if their eyes pour out, if it is delicious, they finish it till the last bite :):)

A nice twist to aloo dum. they use peanuts in michi ka salan, you have substituted almonds - all the same.

Kids were ecstatic at the appearance of the first snow. Me not too much. Thoughts of driving in the snow make the rounds in my head as it is falling down. The roads were not as bad as I dreaded them to be.

Hi, I'm Bengali and live in Netherlands as a graduate student .. and thanks to your blog that I stumbled upon a few days back while surfing the net for Macher Kalia .. I was in for such a treat! Your blogs are so amazing .. they remind me of home too! Thank you a lot.

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Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine